IT project wins international award

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IT project wins international awardSunday May 29 2005 00:00 IST PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: ‘Akshaya,' Kerala's ambitious IT

literacy-cum-entrepreneurship development programme, has been selected for the

‘Golden Nica' award of the Austria-based ARS Electronica in the digital

community category.Akshaya is among the six winners of ‘Prix Ars Electronica’

award this year, an official press release here said.A total of 2,975 entries

from 71 countries competed for the honour. The prize money of 5000 euros is to

be used to finance the ongoing development of the project.Akshaya project is

aimed at bridging the ‘digital divide’, and conceptualised by integrating

multiple objectives of mass literacy, entrepreneurship development and

community uplift in the state.A seven-member jury selected the winners of six

Golden Nicas, 12 awards of distinction and 73 honorary mentions.While choosing

Akshaya for the honour, ARS Electronica said the project was “one of the most

ambitious development programmes ever launched to take advantage of information

and communication technologies.”After its successful implementation in

Malappuram district by making at least one member of each family e-literate,

the scheme, inaugurated by President A P J Abdul Kalam in 2002, is now rolling

out to seven more districts - Kollam, Ernakulam, Pathanamthitta, Thrissur,

Kozhikode, Kannur and Kasargod.The project aimed at making Kerala the first

e-literate state in the country by the year 2006, the release said.